Examining Cases of Child Physical Abuse Evaluations to Identify Opportunities to Improve Intimate Partner Violence Screening in Pediatric Emergency Departments

Abstract

The association between child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV) is well supported. Universal IPV screening has been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the United States Preventative Task Force, and many children’s hospitals have established screening protocols. However, the yield and best screening method in families undergoing a child physical abuse (PA) evaluation have not been fully explored. To determine if there is a discrepancy in IPV disclosures between universal IPV screening completed during pediatric emergency department (PED) triage (“triage screening”) and IPV screening by a social worker (“social work screening”) in families of children who were evaluated for PA. Caregivers of children who presented to an urban tertiary PED and underwent an evaluation for PA via a child abuse pediatrics consult. A retrospective chart review was completed. Data collection included: caregiver responses to both triage screening and social work screening, interview setting details and participants, the child’s injuries, and details of the family’s reported IPV experiences. Our study ( N = 329) revealed that social work screening produced significantly more positive IPV disclosures than triage screening (14.0% vs. 4.3%, p < .001). Additionally, non-IPV violence concerns were identified in 35.7% ( n = 5) of the positive triage screens, whereas social work screens had none. These results highlight the benefits of IPV screening by social work in high-risk scenarios, such as child PA evaluations, regardless of universal IPV screening results. Exploring differences between the two screening methods can inform decisions about screening protocols to improve IPV identification in high-risk populations.